... Hallo Germany!

Dear Reader,

          After some very long flights where I luckily got plenty of sleep, I have arrived safely in Germany. My cousin, Tate met me at the central train station and we spent the rest 
of the day in Hamburg.

         

The first place we went was a church that we're pretty sure is Catholic. But on the outside had this cool sun and moon symbol that looked almost pagan. It's a pilgrimage church, so people traveling on a pilgrimage (most likely to Rome) can stop there on their pilgrimages. The organs playing inside were so cool and we snooped around and took picture for a bit. It was just a random place we found and I'm really glad we did. 

          After that we went to the government building there which was beautiful and is apparently bigger than Buckingham palace. We didn't go on a tour but we did snoop around there for a bit as well and it was gorgeous inside and out. 

          Then we ate at this little stand outside. I had a bratwurst with the weirdest "ketchup" I've ever had. It tasted like BBQ sauce with cinnamon sugar in it or something. It was weird but the wursts were still really good and Tate said that was the worst wurst she's had hear so the food must be good. Mine was all chopped up and buried underneath chips that were also drenched in the weird barbecue sauce. It was odd but I enjoyed it. 

          After that we went to the Miniatur Wunderland museum. They had miniaturized versions Germany throughout its history from Neolithic days through possible imagined futures and I think that was my favourite part of the exhibit. There were lots of funny and dark little scenes hidden in the miniatures and it was like playing a game of Where's Waldo. Then the dioramas showed the desolation of WWII and building of the Berlin Wall and the people tearing the wall back down. It was really cool to see this miniature versions of history. (Mom, you would have loved it I took a ton of pictures so you can see more when I get back).

Neolithic Germany

Medieval Germany

Germany under Nazi Rule

Destruction After WWII

The Berlin Wall

The Fall of the Wall in Berlin

         

They also had a Miniatur Amerika which consisted of a gingerbread looking town in Maine, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, a little town of pueblos that we are guessing is in New Mexico, the strip in Las Vegas, and Seaworld in Florida. Apparently that's what Germans think the United States looks like. 

Home Sweet Miniatur

          After we finished there we sat on a bench in the rain for a bit, I wanted to rest my feet and the weather was so pretty. I just had to enjoy my first German rain. Then when we were all damp and cold we went into to McDonalds to get a Hamburger in Hamburg.          Then we went back to the train station to get on a train to Paderborn where we are staying in a lovely little house that is very far from everything. Our host picked us up at the train station and we drove out of town and through a large dark field, past an abandoned farmhouse and deep into the very dark woods to a small village that I think is called Borchen and an odd little house. Basically I got in the car with an old woman is never met who was speaking a different language and took a creepy drive to stay with her in her house. I think this is why children in Germany needed fairytales, because I broke ever rule taught in Hansel and Gretel. But the most frightening thing about the house is that it does not have the wifi that was promised online. The bed was comfortable and it's a quirky cute little place, with a lovely view outside.         

         That was day 1 in Germany. For the most part I won't be updating the blog quite as often as I did before because wifi is a lot more rare here, but I will do my best to keep everyone fairly up to date on my activities. Until next time! 
     Love Always,          The Wanderess

P.S. Sorry if there's grammatical errors in this post. I typed it on my phone. Also the pictures took forever to upload because the modem is so old. Dad, I will never again complain that our internet is too slow.